UPA Issues First Open Specifications for Coexistence in the Field of Power Line Communications; Specifications Submitted to ETSI PLT and IEEE BPL Standards Working Group

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(CCNMatthews - July 19, 2005) - Business Editors/Energy Editors/Technology Writers

Today, the Universal Powerline Association (UPA) announces that it has published a paper of proposed specifications entitled, "Powerline Communication Systems - Access/In-home & In-home/In-home coexistence mechanism - General specifications". The proposed specifications are intended to be the starting point for the work of standards setting bodies, including the IEEE and ETSI.

The UPA presented the proposed specifications at the first formal meeting of the IEEE's BPL PHY/MAC Working Group on July 7th 2005 in New Jersey. The IEEE working group includes members of the UPA, the Homeplug Alliance, CEPCA and independent participants. In addition, the proposed specifications were also presented, to the ETSI PLT committee at its 32nd plenary meeting in Nice on July 12th, 2005.

Power Line Communications (PLC), also known as Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), is currently deployed in numerous countries using many different technologies that are often incompatible.

The UPA has issued these specifications with the aim of ensuring that all PLC networks and technologies have equitable access in various electrical distribution topologies. The specifications provide solutions for Access and In-Home networks to coexist in time and/or frequency domains.

Mr. Eric Morel, UPA Board Chairman, stated, "Every new technology requires the development of standards to gain broader market acceptance. The coexistence specifications proposed by the UPA have the potential to accelerate the development of an industry standard."

The proposed specifications are the result of cooperation between leading PLC companies from around the world, which have worked together in the first half of 2005 to deliver specifications that meet universal market requirements.

To ensure the openness and transparency, the UPA has made a copy of the proposed specifications available by sending an email message to specs@upaplc.org.

These specifications are just part of the ongoing activities of the UPA. In May 2005, the UPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work with OPERA to publish specifications for a PLC access standard and then to promote the resultant specifications to the appropriate standard making bodies.

About the Universal Powerline Association

The Universal Powerline Association (UPA) is an International not-for-profit trade association representing the leading PLC companies. The UPA works to harmonize global standards and regulations in the fast developing powerline communications market. The UPA provides all PLC players the opportunity to respond to key customer expectations with open standards, based on interoperability, security, and coexistence and supported by exclusive and independent certification, the only global guarantee of quality and confidence for high-speed powerline technology available today. Members of the UPA include Ambient Corporation, Ascom, Corinex Communications, DS2, EDF, Duke Energy, Itochu Corporation, Ilevo (Schneider Electric Powerline Communications), ST&T, Sumitomo Electric Industries and TOYO Network Systems.